Eurovision 2023 hosting: Cardiff pulls out from the bidding race

Eurovision 2023 hosting: Cardiff pulls out from the bidding race
Wednesday, 03 August 2022

  • The city of Cardiff has pulled out of the Eurovision 2023 host city bidding race. 

    Wales's capital city was one of the cities to express their interest to host the next Eurovision Song Contest after EBU's decision to move the competition from this year's winners. 

    Local politicians are making calls for a bid to host the next competition, among which the Council's leader and the head of the Welsh conservatives.  The city was intending to propose the  Principality Stadium as the next Eurovision venue, which can house around 74.000 spectators. 

    The Welsh Goverment along with the Cardiff Council and  Municipality Stadium released a statement explaining that hosting the next contest is hard to take place in the city as they are too many shceduled events making it difficult to be reallocated in order for the contest to take place. 

    Precised the statement reads as following: 

    Since it was confirmed that the UK would host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, Cardiff Council, the Welsh Government and Principality Stadium have been working at pace to establish the feasibility of a bid to host the event in Wales’ capital city.

    Cardiff’s very strong track record in hosting major events, and the world-class Principality Stadium, would have made it a natural fit for such a significant production.

    The BBC, as the event organisers, have released detailed specifications for each city wishing to bid to host the event. As partners, we have been working through these in detail. It is clear that on many of these, Cardiff would have a very strong case to become the host city for Eurovision 2023.

    However, the complexity of staging the event means that a significant number of scheduled events in the Principality Stadium during Spring 2023 would have to be cancelled as a result.

    These include the European Wheelchair Rugby Championships, ‘The Road to Principality’, a key event in the WRU Community rugby calendar, and a major international artist contracted to appear, among other events. We have been in rapid discussion with the BBC to explore any potential options which might have been able to accommodate the event alongside the existing schedule.

    Unfortunately, we have not been able to find a workable solution, and therefore we have collectively agreed that it will not be possible for a Cardiff bid to go forward. We thank the BBC for their positive engagement with us, and we wish the winning city all the best in staging the 2023 competition.

     

    EBU's requirements for hosting Eurovision 

    In order for a city to host the Eurovision SOng Contest in 2022 it must meet a specific number of  requirements. Namely the host city must have: 

    • An international airport no more than 90 minutes from the city.

    • Over 2,000 hotel rooms in the area close to the event.

    • An infrastructure (stadium/venue/centre) capable of hosting a large-scale live broadcast with the minimum requirements listed below.

    In addtion the infrastructure should:

    • Be indoors with air-conditioning and have a well defined perimeter;

    • Have an audience capacity in the main hall of around 8,000 – 10,000 during the event (which corresponds to 70% of maximum capacity of that venue for regular concerts, taking into consideration the specific stage and production needs of the Eurovision Song Contest);

    • Have a main hall with the capacity to house the set and all other requirements needed to produce a high level broadcast production (this includes good specifications of load capacity in the roof, clearance to low beams, easy load in access, etc);

    • Have ample space within easy access of the main hall to support additional production needs, such as: a press centre, delegation spaces, dressing rooms, artist facilities, staff facilities, hospitality, audience facilities, etc;

    • Be available exclusively for 6 weeks before the event, 2 weeks during the show (which will take place in May) and a week after the end of the event for dismantling.

     

    News Source: ESCToday

    Image: Baamboozle

     

     

     

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